Time ahead in the polls

As the latest presidential polling numbers get examined and digested, one side takes a deep breath and sees the work that needs to be done to improve their lot and the other raises an eyebrow and goes great! At last sighting President Obama is ahead 50 to 44% among registered voters. Fox showed his lead a tad smaller, but at this point in the game the president is ahead. Bottom line, with three presidential debates and a couple hundred million dollars worth of political advertising yet to hit the airways and both men tied to twitter and all the other social media waiting to catch their every fauxpas it’s a lot closer race than any of us think.

One thing is clear though, the post convention boost in the polls most candidates get never really materialized for the Republicans. The Democrats on the other hand got a very nice one. That convention achieved doing what conventions of this day and age are supposed to do. Present a candidate who looks successful, able to handle the job, likeable, knowledgeable and above all else supported by a cross section of America that for all practical purposes includes representatives from all of America! There was no need to make this a “point the finger at the other guy convention”. Republicans would do well to remember the old adage, when you point one finger at someone, you are pointing three at yourself!

Granted neither side portrayed the other side’s candidate very flatteringly but the cast of Democrat speech givers and their scripted esprit de corps struck a nerve with American Middle Class. As the Republicans found out, simply presenting the fact that Obama has yet to turn the economy around or not done as good as they said they could have in creating new jobs was no clear political homerun in itself. They had to present their answers to not only what he did wrong but what they would have done better had McCain gotten elected. A hard job indeed, given eight years of previous Republican administrations had created many of the problems the president faced. It was a very tough sell to say that doing the very thing that caused the problems in the first place all over again would suddenly bring American’s Middle Class back to life.

Romney and Ryan both promised to give us their plan and ideas for getting America back to work after they get elected. A lot like Wimpy promising to pay Popeye for a hamburger after Wimpy gets to eat it! Elect us and then we will reveal the magic answers to all your problems. Asking the Middle Class of America to follow them down the Yellow Brick Road on a journey that may or may not have a happy ending.

Additionally, the Democrats have hit a nerve with the reality that if Republicans are going to cut spending and reduce the taxes for the wealthiest, someone is going to have to pay and more than likely that means the American Middle Class! Trickle down economics has never worked and trying to sell it again and again doesn’t change that. The American Middle Class has fallen for that line before and is not ready to do it again.

So far this year I have taken at least three polls. The poll givers have run the gamut of “tell us what you think” to only offering me a question or two once they found out my general affiliations. Few asked me what I thought our real problems are and none asked me what I thought was done right or wrong in the last four years. One must look upon polls and their numbers with the same raised eyebrow one treats all the other information they get from commercial media sources and then move on. In this case if you’re a Democrat, perhaps with a bit of a lighter step!